Inlander questions naming victim

When North Idaho College settled a lawsuit this fall with the victim of an alleged gang-rape who accused the school of ignoring the case, NIC emailed a statement to local newspapers, including the Coeur d’Alene Press .

The statement, unexpectedly, named the woman who claimed to be gang-raped.

And so, too, did an article posted that morning, Dec. 1, 2016, by the Coeur d’Alene Press , titled “NIC Settles Lawsuit With Former Student Who Claimed She Was Raped.” (If you’re curious how North Idaho College mishandled the case, read our story in this week’s paper .)

Typically, journalists do not name victims of sexual assault without the victim’s permission so as not to shame victims publicly, as the Poynter Institute for Media Studies points out. And the CDA Press , facing backlash, removed the name from the Dec. 1 article by the end of the day.

But why the paper identified her in the first place is revealing/Wilson Criscione, Inlander. More here.